Bolster



April 1963 F. R. FlLlATREAU, SR 3,083,372

BOLSTER Filed Jan. 6, 1961 FIG.3. i?

IN VENTOR l FRANCIS R. FILIATREAU, SR.

F I G .4 g 5 8 ATTORNEY United States 3,083,372 Patented Apr. 2, 1963 3,083,372 BOLSTER Francis R. Filiatreau, Sr., 87 E. Main St., Phelps, N.Y. Filed Jan. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 8l,tl76 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-64) The present invention relates to a bolster.

More particularly, the present invention relates to a bolster for use in the funeral trade.

Generally, a funeral director or embalmer encounters a substantial amount of difiiculty in making a deceased mans suit fit properly and otherwise to impart a reasonably good appearance to the corpse when it is laid out in a casket. The reason for this is that when the corpse is laid out in a supine position, the hollow caused by the dip between the collar bone and the shoulder is accentuated. To overcome this condition, and to make the suit appear rounded and full over the shoulder line, cotton or wadded paper is used to fill in the hollow. This is not only a cumbersome and awkward procedure, but experience has shown that the results and appearance obtained are far from satisfactory.

The problem becomes more acute when, prior to death, the deceased has been ill for a greater or lesser period of time, because he will then often have lost so much weight that his clothing is too large and must be fitted to the body.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome the above disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a bolster or the like which the funeral director or embalmer may use to improve the fit of the clothing worn by the deceased.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bolster which can easily be inserted under a garment worn by the deceased.

The objects of the present invention also include the provision of a bolster whch is very simple and which can easily be mass-produced at low cost.

With the above objects in view, the present invention resides mainly in a bolster made of still sheet material and having a flat elongated chest portion adapted to lie upon one side of the chest of a supined deceased, and a curved end portion integral with the chest portion and adapted to curl about the corresponding shoulder of the deceased, thereby covering the hollow formed between the collar bone and the shoulder of the deceased and forming a support for a garment worn by the deceased and overlying the bolster.

Additional objects and advantages of the present invention wll become apparent upon consideration of the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a supine deceased, the bolsters being shown in solid lines.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one of the bolsters.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the bolster shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the bolster shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a supine deceased whose physique has shrunk to the outline shown in dotted lines, so that his coat 11, shown in phantom lines, no longer fits properly, due mainly to the accentuated dip of the hollow between his collar bone and shoulders. Accordingly, the fullness of the coat 11 is preserved by bolsters 1'2 and 13, shown in solid lines, these bolsters being configured for the right and left sides, respectively, of the deceased.

FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 are perspective, elevational and plan views of the right bolster 12, the bolster 13 having a mirror image configuration and being, therefore, not illustrated separately. The bolster is an integral article made of sheet material sufficiently stiff, so that the bolster will be able to lift the coat slghtly. Such a material may, for example, be a resin-impregnated fibrous sheet, such as paper or cardboard, or a sheet made entirely of polyethylene, polystyrene, or other suitable plastics. One part 12a constitutes the chest portion whch is adapted to lie upon one side of the chest of the supine deceased, and another part 12b which adjoins the base of the chest portion constitutes a curved end portion which is adapted to curl about the corresponding shoulder of the deceased, thereby covering the hollow formed between the collar bone and the shoulder and forming a support for the coat, shirt or other garment worn by the deceased. As is clearly shown in the drawing, the sides of the trapezoidal chest portion form an angle with each other.

The blank from which the bolsters are made may be stamped in the usual manner, whereafter the shape illustrated above is permanently imparted to the blank. It will be appreciated that the left bolster may be made from a stamped blank having the same configuration as a blank from which the right bolster is made, the only difference being that the end portion 12b wll be curved in the opposite direction, i.e., downwardly, as viewed in FIGURE 3.

The following is an illustrative example of an actual bolster according to the present invention: the bolster is made of a sheet of polystyrene having a thickness of about The chest portion has a length l of about 12", the width w of the chest portion at the smaller end being about 2 /2". The height h of the end portion is about 2%", the width y being about 8", or two-thirds of the length l of the chest portion. The angle a formed between the sides of the chest portion is about 22, and the end portion has a slight slant, so as to form an angle b of about with the plane of the chest portion. Additionally, the end portion may have a slight slant, indicated by the angle 0 in FIGURE 4. This slant, which may be about 4, allows for the normal slant of a persons shoulder line from the neck to the edge of the shoulder.

It will be seen from the above that the bolster is of sufficiently generous size to fit from the neck to the shoulder edge, and that the chest portion will extend down to about the handkerchief pocket of acoat. Should the dimensions given above prove to be too large for any particular deceased, the funeral director or embalmer will trim off any excess to meet the needs of the situation.

In practice, the bolster will be made available to the funeral trade in sets, each including a bolster configured for the right side and bolster configured for the left side of the deceased.

It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims. For example, the exemplary numerical values given above may be varied within reasonable limits, the corners may be rounded off, edges may be smoothed, the sheet material may be perforated, and the like.

I claim:

1. For use under a garment of a supine deceased, a set of bolsters each made of stiif sheet material and having a fiat elongated generally triangular body portion having two long edges and a base and adapted to lie upon a side of the chest of the supine deceased, and a curved end portion having a generally flat free edge and connected to said base and integral with said body portion, said flat free edge being generally parallel to said base and adp'ted to curlaoout the corresponding shoul der of the deee'a'sed; thereby coverin the hollow formed between the collar bone and saidfshoulder of the deceased and f g ppo fars 'sarme t W n by he d e s and overlying said bolsterjoiielofsaid bolsters being configured forjthe right side of the deceased' and the otherof said bolsters being configured for the left side of the dece'a'se'd.

which is v integral with f said chest portion, the juncture "whe eidv n port on i s h t PQ Q I b n of a ,widthwhiche gtendssubstantially trom the'neck to the (tip of the 'shoulder of the deceased 'andjsajd chest portion frer'note fror'njthe juncture being nar'rower than said juncture and said'end'p ortion being {Qf SllCh a length that it ,terr'ninat'es jne'ar the: middle of; the shoulder, said chest 'po'rtion having a' configuration which allows the same to lie upon one side of the chest of the deceased while said eurve'd end portion ""c'ufls about the correspondin shoulder of the deceased}: the material of which said bolster is made being sufiiciently stifi to support the garment worn by the decasedthereby to prevent a drooping of the garment in the hollow, said bolster as a whole being configured to permit ittobe placed under the garment of the supine deceased, while the deceased wears such garment, directl'y'trom'the front without it being necessary to, remove thezgannent or to move any portion of the'body of the deceased.

-References file of this patent UNITED srATEs PATENTS ;7Sl 944 0 Quarngeser Feb. 9, 1904 978,620 Mur l Dec. 13,1910 1,236,278 Ettinger Aug. 7, 1917 15 8373199 rSparhawk Dec. 22, 1931 2,513,232 Brownson June 27, 1 950 2,689,350 Crawford Sept. 21, 1954 

1. FOR USE UNDER A GARMENT OF A SUPINE DECEASED, A SET OF BOLSTERS EACH MADE OF STIFF SHEET MATERIAL AND HAVING A FLAT ELONGATED GENERALLY TRIANGULAR BODY PORTION HAVING TWO LONG EDGES AND A BASE AND ADAPTED TO LIE UPON A SIDE OF THE CHEST OF THE SUPINE DECEASED, AND A CURVED END PORTION HAVING A GENERALLY FLAT FREE EDGE AND CONNECTED TO SAID BASE AND INTEGRAL WITH SAID BODY PORTION, SAID FLAT FREE EDGE BEING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID BASE AND ADAPTED TO CURL ABOUT THE CORRESPONDING SHOULDER OF THE DECEASED, THEREBY COVERING THE HOLLOW FORMED BETWEEN THE COLLAR BONE AND SAID SHOULDER OF THE DECEASED AND FORMING A SUPPORT FOR A GARMENT WORN BY THE DECEASED AND OVERLYING SAID BOLSTER, ONE OF SAID BOLSTERS BEING CONFIGURED FOR THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DECEASED AND THE OTHER OF SAID BOLSTERS BEING CONFIGURED FOR THE LEFT SIDE OF THE DECEASED. 